COUNTY NEWS: Tributes paid to ‘hugely popular’ former Sussex student who died in plane crash

Firefighters at the scene of the crash on Saturday (April 30). SWNS SUS-160305-114919001

James Oxenham

Published:11:13Wednesday 04 May 2016

Tributes have been paid to a former Sussex student who was one of two trainee pilots who died in a plane crash over the weekend.

Cameron Forster, 21, a former pupil at Hurstpierpoint College, and Ajvir Singh Sandhu, 25, from Essex, died after the private aircraft they were flying crashed in North Yorkshire on Saturday.

The pair were Royal Air Force officers and were student pilots undertaking basic jet training at RAF Linton-on-Ouse, near York.

Headmaster at Hurstpierpoint College Tim Manly said: “Cameron was an outstanding pupil with a truly lovely attitude to life. A hugely popular young man, sportsman, musician, school prefect, house captain, he contributed in so many ways to the lives of others.

“He will be greatly missed and the loss of such a fine young man at such a young age is, indeed, a tragedy.

“Our thoughts are with his family and friends at this time. The Hurst College community will do whatever it can to support them.”

The RAF has also paid tribute to the ‘exceptionally talented’ young pilots.

Captain Ian Laing, station commander of RAF Linton-on-Ouse, said: “They were both exceptionally talented young men in the prime of their lives. The thoughts of everyone at RAF Linton-on-Ouse are with their family and friends at this difficult time.”

The pair crashed near Castle Howard, a stately home in Ryesgate, North Yorkshire, at around 10.40am.

Emergency services - including an air ambulance – were called to the crash site but the men were declared dead at the scene.

The pilots are thought to have rented the plane from a nearby flight centre earlier that morning.

The Air Accident Investigations Branch (AAIB) has opened an investigation into what caused the crash.